


how far will we go?

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-01-22 13:55:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21303176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Eren is the prince of the walls, his father grisha yeager is known for his antics and hard hand when it comes to his people, but eren is different. his assigned knight, levi ackerman, the best of the best and humanitys strongest will make him question himself, and levi finds himself falling harder than either of them ever imagined
Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is the first chapter and i know it seems weird, but the story will slowly develop itself so sit back and enjoy

Perhaps if he moved the knight… his hand extended, fingers closing over the familiar hand carved wood of the little piece. But he never lifted it from the board, “no, that’s the wrong choice, too” his voice was the only sound to compete with the soft ticking of the clock in his study, and it hardly sounded like his own. His throat still ached with every word he spoke. His lungs ached dully with every breath. Levi withdrew his hand and curled it into a fist against his knee.

He had thought this would help, something to occupy his mind, a puzzle. But he stared down at the chess board and all he could see was men blocking a roadway. A cart, a body. A problem. A failure.

Fire. It still burned in the healing lines on his arms and across his chest and back where the chains had turned his armor into a brand. He swallowed folding his hands together because despite himself, they were trembling. Pain reminded him with every movement that he was alive. And the burn in his chest with every breath reminded him how nearly he hadn’t.

And what for? What had it all been for? the cart had burned down with its cargo and very nearly him. And the chest? The most important part of the task. Handed over. 

“nothing…” he whispered, sharp and almost relishing in the way it ached in his throat, the pain a counterpoint to the vicious heat rising in his chest. “nothing” he snarled, reaching for other knight, plucking it from the board.

Levi hurled the knight at the stone wall so hard the sound of the impact echoed through the quiet room, he shoved himself to his feet so that the fine chair rocked back and crashed to the floor, and still rage boiled higher inside of him, because of the king, because of the queen, and because of the prince . 

“nothing!” he roared, and the sound was a ragged ghost of his usual shout “nothing from the king, from those bastards, from the pretty prince whom I had to protect, and for what?!” he was out of control , and he knew it, he tasted blood in the back of his throat mingling with the residue of smoke that still marred everything he tasted.

He snatched at the chessboard again, he threw the king piece, and it still wasn’t enough “for nothing” he said and the sound caught in his throat like a sob. Pathetic.

He had not wanted his life for so long. It had been easy running headlong into danger, seeking a meaningful death to free him from everything he did not want to be. but now… he stared down at his own hands and they were trembling. Snarling he steadied them, closed at the edge of the chess board and launched it at the wall. His eyes stung, hot and painful, just as they had when smoke had filed them. He threw the small table after the rest of it, and didn’t care when the old fine wood broke into million tiny pieces, he just didn’t care anymore. 

There was pounding at the door, frantic voices but he could hardly hear them over the ragged sounds of his own shaken breaths, he set his shoulders against the hard wood and sank to the ground just as a hoard of men entered the small studio, a calm voice rose amongst the chaos 

“let me in, please!”

when Levi heard, his head immediately shot up and he looked at the prince, Eren, straight in the eyes, as he laughed, rough and tiredly.

“look who is here to see the show” his voice was ugly, full of sadness and anger “I hope your father had quite a ride, tell me, how is the queen treating him? Finally understood there’s more to the old man than just a hand to curl around her and some disgusting-“

his sentence was cut short, a smack echoed through the room and pain shot up his face, if it wasn’t for that he wouldn’t have realized, he had just been slapped, by the prince. “out, all of you” he roared to the guards and when they didn’t budge, he screamed just louder than Levi ever did 

“out!”

All the soldiers left, quietly as Eren and Levi stared at each other, once the last one closed the door, the prince exploded

“what do you think you’re doing Levi?”

“oh, my prince, isn’t it obvious?” his voice was bitter and mocking, if he were anyone else prince Eren would have him in the guillotine in seconds, but he wasn’t just anyone. 

“I’m having myself a lovely game of chess, to calm my nerves, but I couldn’t keep myself from thinking.” He got up suddenly, taking slow and dangerous steps towards the younger male, trapping him between the closed door and his body.

“why?” he dragged his finger up his chest to his chin, watching the way Eren’s adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. 

Nervous. He liked that.

“did I almost die in vain?, weird one right ?” he laughed and backed off from eren 

“why, was I just a pawn in the kingdoms game, in your father’s game” eren took casious steps towards him as if approaching an injured animal, but levi only moved away 

“ you know I wanted to get you out of there safely”

it was a mere whisper and something eren couldn’t get himself to say out loud, he was a prince after all, and Levi was a knight who’s life wasn’t supposed to be more important then the rest of them, but here they were

“well, seems like you were alone in that one, brat, because grisha yeager, our dear king, had other plans for me apparently” he seated himself on the fallen chair, noticing how weak it was and wondering if it was going to collapse anytime soon or not, he didn’t really care either way 

“Levi… I… “ 

the prince tried, but the knight spoke once again “don’t, your majesty” eren visibly flinched, he hadn’t called him that in the 7 months they had known each other, and it pierced though him like a sword 

“you were just protecting your kingdom, and your people” he faintly touched his cheek, where he was slapped mere moments ago. “I understand your concern, but I think you’ve done more than enough” he got himself out of the chair and started moving towards the door, a hand clasped around his arm and electricity shot up, coursing through his veins

“you know I didn’t mean it” 

eren gestured to his red cheek touching it with his fingertips which levi immeadiatly slapped away, he didn’t trust himself around the other boy. A moment passed as he stared into those deep green eyes and any other day, he would’ve kissed him right there and then, no regrets, no doubts. Eren started to lean and levi stopped just before their lips met 

“ you sure you want to keep doing this?” he whispered, unsure

“ I’m sure, you really scared me back then you know” his fingers moved to his jaw and Levi didn’t stop him, he couldn’t “ I called off the mission immediately when I saw you disappear under the cart, and got myself beat up, but it was worth it” somehow Levi hands found Eren’s waist and they were tugging him closely, their lips mere millimeters form each other.. until…

“ liar”

Levi’s voice was deep and coarse, he pushed Eren off of him and ignored the pained look he gave him, backing off and opening the door. Without looking back, he left, closing the door behind him and sliding down, till his bum hit the ground and he could hear Eren’s sobs through the door, but it didn’t matter, it never really did.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter! we go back to when eren meets levi for the first time

When Levi Ackerman walked into the castle’s entrance hall, Eren couldn’t keep his eyes off of him no matter how hard he tried.

Things had been a little different inside the walls, since the titans were breaking into them, the royal family was deemed responsible for the breaking of wall Maria and so Carla and Grisha Yeager wanted their son to be protected, and hired an assigned knight.

Levi was an old family friend, Carla knew his uncle, Kenny, and when she found out Levi had the highest success rate in killing both people and titans, she didn’t hesitate to bring him in. Their first encounter was rather awkward to say the least, Levi was wondering why he had to babysit a 19-year-old, he wasn’t really too keen on the idea, but the paycheck was grand and denying that sums of money was a luxury he couldn’t really afford.

When he saw the prince, he thought things would be more interesting than he initially thought, he didn’t miss the way Eren’s eyes ranked over his muscular form, or he blushed when Levi presented himself 

“Levi! You are finally here!” 

The queen was probably the only royal Levi didn’t despise, Carla was a beautiful woman who really took care of her land, and spoke her mind when she thought something was unfair, something Levi really admired.

“Your majesty” Levi leaned down to take Carla’s hand and give it a kiss, when he raised his eyes, he saw a small figure behind her.

“Oh! Right! Levi, this is my son, prince Eren, Eren, this is Levi Ackerman, your new assigned knight”.

Levi approached, setting his eyes on green, and brown soft locks that fell in front of them, suddenly his mouth felt really dry at the thought of being with this fascinating creature all day.

“At your service” he politely bowed his head and returned to look at Carla in the eyes.

“Mom, where’s Dad?” Eren asked, and his voice made Levi’s head shoot up, it was like caramel and the thought of what other kinds of noises it could make made him dizzy

“I’m not sure darling, I think he might be talking to commander Erwin in his study, why don’t you show Levi where he will be sleeping and get him settled there, I’ll send Armin up with his luggage” Eren only smiled politely and nodded towards Levi, asking him to follow. 

-

“ You will be sleeping in the room next to mine, because of precautions and shit” 

Levi rose his eyebrows at the swear word “I’m sure you’re not allowed to use that kind of language, brat”

Eren turned and looked at him with those green eyes again “Brat? I’m your prince dude” he didn’t sound annoyed thank god

“We will be together every day, do I really need to keep up the “your majesty” act?”

Eren laughed and Levi could only feel his brain short circuit. “you’re right, Eren it is, Levi” he extended his hand and Levi took it without hesitation, noticing how soft and warm it was.

Their rooms were in the south tower, last floor, which meant a staircase was needed only to get to the top to the two doors, which also had a door on the inside so you could pass through the two bedrooms without having to go out into the hallway.

Levi stared at the giant bedroom that was going to be his, and found a small blonde boy with his bags.

“Hey Armin” Eren greated softly “Oh don’t worry, we can unpack that”

Armin, as Eren called him looked up and when he saw Eren his eyes filled with light, he blushed and got up from the floor.

“So you two are like, fucking or what?” Levi didn’t miss the way Armin’s eyes grew larger and the slight snort he got out of Eren. 

“Levi, behave, this is Armin, my best friend” 

Levi extended his hand towards Armin and settled on a friendly handshake

“I should get going, looks like your father is hosting a big dinner tonight and we don’t have even half of the stuff ready, call me if you need anything though” and with that Armin exited, leaving Eren and Levi all by themselves.

“If you want to survive around here, you better watch your mouth” Eren said as he approached Levi, the height difference was obvious as Eren was only a couple of feet away from Levi, he didn’t miss the way the older male had to crane his neck up to meet his eyes “Can’t say I mind though, it’s nice to have a bit of a change from the whole “your majesty, prince Eren” thing” he stated using his hands

“I’m here babysitting, and believe me, the king will not want to see me anytime soon so it’s fine”

“Why?” Eren was closer now, and he had started whispering, why was it so hot in here all of a sudden?

“That’s a story for another day brat” Levi didn’t feel comfortable telling Eren about his past, he was only there to protect him and that was it.

“Well, we do have plenty of time” he sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed the fresh linen “We are going to be together every day from now on, so why not get to know each other a bit more?”

Levi was getting impatient, this is not what he wanted, if the looks of Eren weren’t enough, the fact that he was willing to open his heart to a complete stranger seemed exhilarating yet very scary. 

“Look here, princess, I’m only your assigned knight, you need help wiping your ass or opening your door, I help, but we are not friends, and I’m not going to lose my job for a shitty brat” 

Eren’s eyes opened and they were shining, Levi was expecting to see him sad, or even angry, but he was just smiling. Eren hummed as he approached Levi once more.

“Mother didn’t tell me what a fierce puppy you were” he took Levi’s collar into his hand, caressing his white cravat and then cupping his nape “This is going to be more interesting than I thought”

Enough for harassing his knight, Eren backed away, letting go of Levi completely as he turned to the door that joined the rooms “You better change, we have to go to dinner and you don’t want to  
go in those dirty clothes” with that he closed the door and laid down in his bed. 

Yeah, this was going to be fun.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoop whoop back at it again

Blood, fire, a shout, and then black, this was all Levi could remember from that night. 

When prince Eren took command of the mission and led most of his men straight into a massacre, he didn’t think twice because they had to retrieve the books, but when he saw his knight, Levi, trapped under a burning cart with the most important part of the mission inside, he didn’t think as he stopped the mission completely, retreating the knight, leaving more than a 100 bodies lying there and their only shot at freedom and true knowledge about this living hell burn to ashes.

The mission had been simple. They had found out there existed books with information about the titans, information they needed and it was, most likely, the salvation of humanity, but this books were guarded by intelligent titans, and so Eren decided he had to be the one running the mission as he was not only a prince, but a perfect soldier and a genius strategist.

He went there with Levi, his assigned knight, who was a titan killing machine but this time he had specific orders of protecting Eren and only Eren. Any other day he would have protected everyone he could and not give a crap about some replaceable brat as he fought alongside his fellow soldiers, but in these 7 months of knowing Eren feelings also took part and he would protect Eren with his life, because he was his life. 

When they arrived at Shinganshina, they thought the place would be swarming with titans, but it wasn’t, and it only took Levi a couple of seconds to realize they had been trapped, and commander Erwin quickly understood, this was it. 

As he drove his soldiers to an honorable death of serving the country and their prince, they were preparing for the worst, but the king had other plans. Eren didn’t know this, but all of his soldiers were told this by the king 

“𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺”

It had been a punch to the stomach for Eren’s soldiers, who had sworn to protect him with their lives, to be told by his own father that if the decision came, it was the books, and not Eren.

While soldiers fought for their lives against humans and titans, Eren, Levi, and 4 of their best soldiers, Jean, Hanji, Sasha and Mikasa went to look for the books but found a cart in the place they were supposed to be. Eren knew a thing or two about the world and thought something that important would be disguised as something unimportant, the least likely place for them to be, and he was right, but what he didn’t know was that he supposed to be right about that, because it was a trap. 

Levi approached the cart and removed the lid, inside were a variety of boxes, and in the middle a red chest, just like the information they were given said, he shouted a command and alerted that they had, in fact, found the books, and couldn’t keep himself from smiling, since this was their shot at freedom. 

Eren started walking towards him, silently taking his hand and giving it a squeeze as he stared at the chest and then it downed on Levi, that they were being watched, he withdrew his hand from Eren’s and took out his blade stopping an incoming attack from Eren’s back dead on its tracks, just in time, Eren’s eyes opened in surprise as he let out a shout and moved out the way, withdrawing his own blade and fighting alongside Levi as more enemies approached, a big blonde guy and a tall raven haired one. 

“Jean, the chest, now!” Eren shouted and Jean started moving alongside Hanji, they killed more incoming enemies and stood at the top of the cart, carefully sliding out the chest and just as Levi heard the sound of a match being turned on he realized it was too late, he threw a last blow at the guy, killing him and took Eren’s arm, launching him out of sight and kicking him in the ribs as hard as he could to get him as far away as possible from the cart, he impaled the tall guy, and shouted at Hanji and Jean 

“Get out of here!” They quickly jumped down in confusion and the blonde guy, barely alive, smiled as he clicked his tongue 

“Eren!” an explosion caused his ears to stop working, he extended his hand towards his prince but it was too late as he felt heat on his back, and an incredible amount of weight fall on top of him 

“Levi!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's some smutty smut so be aware if you dont like that kind of stuff

Levi Ackerman and Eren Yeager didn’t expect to get along so well, and they certainly didn’t expect to wake up each morning on the same bed, cuddling like their bodies were meant to fit this way.

A lot happened in the last 3 months of knowing each other, Eren found out his father held some stupid grudge and hate towards the Ackerman’s, and that not only included Levi and his uncle Kenny, but also Mikasa, one of the best soldier’s humanity had, and she was also part of the survey corps. He found out his father tried to do some nasty things and pull some strings from the inside to keep Mikasa from being promoted to captain, but failed miserably as everyone knew just how strong Mikasa was.

Eren didn’t care about all this, all he cared about right now was Levi, and protecting him became an instinct, so much so that he took several blows that came from his father whenever he got rude or harsh with Levi, ending up in private “discipline sessions” as he liked to call them, which mainly consisted in him beating the shit out of Eren in his study, and then returning him to his knight, who took care of his injuries and his soul.

The sun warmed up the small room, and Eren looked at Levi’s sleeping face, he looked younger, and relaxed. His black hair as sprawled on the pillow and his face, his undercut needed to be cut and it became long enough to tug at, something Eren found himself doing more and more each time.

“You’re staring” Even though his eyes were closed, Levi knew exactly what Eren was doing and he felt his cheeks heat up, Levi’s voice was like caramel, it was hoarse and rough with sleep and incredibly deep 

“You’re sleeping” Eren stated as a matter of fact and Levi snorted, cracking his eyes open and looking up at the looming form of Eren, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him down, capturing his lips in a sweet kiss

“Hmmm, apparently I am, this is such a nice dream” Eren laughed into his mouth and kissed him deeper, biting his bottom lip, earning a deep moan from Levi that had his heart racing and his whole body waking up.

Eren climbed on top of Levi, straddling his hips and kissing him with more intent, tasting him with his tongue and caressing his face. Levi’s hands snuck down and past the waistband of Eren's pants, grabbing his ass with both hands and giving it a hard squeeze

“Jeez, behave” Eren whispered in his lips 

“You didn’t say that last night when my mouth was-”

“Enough” he shushed him up with a kiss, and then traveled down his neck, to his collarbone, leaving a hickey and then moving to his nipples, caressing each one with his tongue, and then pressing kisses to his abs. “You’re a prince, your mouth shouldn’t be so good at that” Levi moaned, locking eyes with Eren, who ignored the comment and moved lower until he hit his navel and the trail of black hair leading to his groin

He looked up at Levi, finding him trying to control his breathing and grasping at the sheets, he pulled his pants down and freed his cock, taking it into his hand and lightly, lazily, stroking the length 

Levi threw his head back as he let the sensations take over, eren kissed his shaft and sucked on the skin lightly, continuing to stroke him as he pressed kisses to his thighs Levi runned his fingers through Eren’s soft hair. “since when did you take things slow?” he sighed. He bit his lower lip and let out an indulgent moan when eren finally took his length into his mouth. “not that im complaining”

He started to suck enthusiastically, bobbing his head as Levi took hold of his hair and guided him, basically fucking his mouth “oh god” Levi moaned and eren knew that when he got vocal, he was close, so he pulled away and moved up, shoving his tongue into levi’s mouth and trading saliva.

eren knew every little secret to making levi moan, he caressed his hips, squeezed his waist, and pulled at his hair as he kissed that one spot under his clavicle, the one he loved leaving bruised and was perfectly hidden by his cravat.

But likewise, Levi knew his body well too. He reached into the space between them and arched his back, pressing their cocks together as he stroked them together leisurely, moaning at the way they throbbed against one another. 

He cupped Eren’s ass, giving it a firm squeeze and then slapping it, the sound echoing through the room.

“you sick son of a-“ Eren moaned “you almost made me cum just then”

“you’re so lame, princess”

Eren frenched him again, biting on his lip 

“just shows how good you are”

They pressed their bodies back down on the bed as they continued making out, their hands exploring one another. They didn’t have the energy to be frantic but they liked taking their time rediscovering each other. They caressed their biceps, groped their pecs, and brushed their knuckles over their abs. But it didn’t feel as good as when they shaped their grooves together, grinding their bodies and panting in their heat.

It didn’t take much for Levi to orgasm. After all, he’d been on the edge for a while so hearing those words were enough to push him over. He pulled out at the last second and came all over Eren’s hole, shooting ropes of cum on and around his asshole.

“Fuck,” Levi chuckled. “I missed.”

“You wouldn’t have if you stayed in there,” Eren smirked.

They didn’t bother cleaning up as they collapsed side by side on their backs. The chilly room slowly cooling them off as they took shallow breaths to try and relax. Without saying a word, they rolled over to look at each other in unison, their faces close.

“We’re both pretty pathetic,” Levi remarked.

Eren nodded before kissing him. “I’m starting to enjoy being pathetic.”

“…That makes two of us.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some insight on what happened when they got to the walls

A big explosion shook them both as the cart was set on fire, Jean and Hanji were able to jump back in time but not Levi, he was trapped under the cart with the chest inside, his armour was getting hotter and hotter by the second, he couldn’t feel his legs and couldn’t see either because of the smoke

“Eren, get away!” he shouted, smoke filling up his lungs 

“Hanji, Jean, retrieve Levi, we are returning to base!”

“But Sir, the chest!”

Hanji said, already trying to get Levi out and look for a way to get the chest as well 

“That’s an order, we take Levi and retrieve!” he didn’t sound like himself, he was desperate as he saw Levi start to go into unconsciousness and jean along with marco tugging at his arms trying to slide him out, the other two guys were dead but they didn’t know if there were more. 

“You majesty, his legs are being crushed by the cart, he cant get him out!” Jean shouted, and Eren could only think of Levi, his hands, him, and how he woudnt' be able to live without him 

“Then we destroy the cart, I don’t care, just get him out!”

“My prince, we have direct orders from the king to retrieve the chest at all costs, if we try to break down the cart then the books will also burn, we can't allow that!”

“change of plans, i'm the one in charge and I say we rescue Levi, forget about the books and get him out!” he was shouting, he knew that, he never shouted, not at his soldiers, and not in front of Levi, but he was angry and he couldn’t do this, he couldn’t leave Levi, not like this. 

Sasha looked at Mikasa, they were in conflict. They couldn’t tell Eren his father wanted the books, and didn’t care about anything, but if he were to find out they followed Eren's orders and only saved a knight , leaving the books to burn, they would be on death row, Eren too. 

Still, they couldn’t hep but hesitate as they watched they composed and strong prince break down at the sight of the knight, it became pretty obvious for everyone present Levi wasn’t an ordinary knight, not for Eren at least.

Mikasa nodded towards Sasha and they both took Erens arms, one on each side 

“What do you think you're doing?! Get Levi and go, that’s an order”

“We are very sorry your majesty, but the king insists the books are our number one priority, no life is more important, i'm afraid not even yours”

It was a blow to the stomach to Eren, he knew how malicious his father could be, but this, this was a whole another thing, and he wasn’t going to let Levi die, not here, not like this. 

he looked toward the cart and saw Levi unconscious, his eyes closed but once in a while they would open, wild and frantic, looking for Eren, only to scream in pain, coughing up some blood and going back to being unconscious and Eren just couldn't take it, knowing he must be in an incredible amount of pain and for what, some books?

“You guys let me go, or I kill you, i'm sorry but forget my father, Levi is right now your number one priority” he shook his arms, managing to knock Sasha's balance, he punched Mikasa and got out his knife, pressing to her throat 

“You don’t how much I hate to do this, but get Levi out” he sounded desperate, his voice cracked and he was pleading, a prince, Eren, he was begging 

“ I cant lose him, even if my father kills me or him, I want to die with him, and I don’t know what will be of me if I come back alone, so please, save him”

he looked miserable, not even having a strong grip on the knife he was holding, his voice broke and he barely whispered the last part, he looked so broken and small, like he would launch himself into that burning cart at any moment 

Mikasa couldn’t hold herself for too long,. Using some incredible strength she lifted one side of the cart, and Jean was able to slide Levi out, he was unconscious as he was brought out and away from the fire, and Eren could only sob and cry as he saw Levi's arms red and his skin peeling because of the heat

“Get the horses, we are leaving” he commanded and the soldiers started moving. 

He sat down in front of Levi pulling his body towards him, holding him in his arms "Levi, come on” he whispered “You're safe now, you're with me, so please Lvi, don’t let this be in vain, please” he was crying now as he leaned down and placed a kiss to his forehead just as the others arrived with the horses

Eren pulled himself together, lifting Levi in his arms and laying him on top of his horse, wiping his tears, he took a deep breath and turned, looking at the expecting soldiers who just shuffled their feet as the realization of what they had done was going down on them 

“The books were burned down, we attempted everything to retrieve them but the enemies managed to make the cargo explode, our soldiers died in honor protecting our one shot at a free existence and we tried our best, soldier Levi in particular, but he failed and retrieved as soon as we could. Understood?”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woop woop back at it again, pls don't hate on grisha, he's a bitch but he's scared ok

So, this is where they stand now. Levi, a broken man that couldn’t get things right, and eren a broken prince who risked everything for someone that right now felt like it despised him, and he couldn’t blame him 

They came back without the books, silently, they entered the castle with an unconscious Levi on eren’s horse and the news that the books had been burned to ashes.

“King grisha, your majesty” bowed Mikasa, she decided to take the lead on giving him the news, as everyone else was mentally and physically torn to pieces.

“Ah, Mikasa, I hope you have proven your worth on this one, even though you have Ackermann blood in you, maybe you’re not a scum like the rest of them”

“That’s very kind of you your majesty” Mikasa’s voice was bitter and she was looking at the carpet, such a clean carpet it looked new and she wondered just how many times it could have been changed, and the causes that made them change said carpet became darker and darker each second in her head, she was scared, but no one needed to know that. with a big sigh, she continued 

“I’m afraid the mission was a failure” the color drained on the kings face as he launched himself forward, barely holding onto the armrests on his throne, Mikasa continued “my squad and I, including prince eren, were tricked into thinking the books were safe, some ruffians took advantage of this and burned the books to ashes, and almost killed soldier Levi Ackermann and soldier Jean in the process, we had no option but to retreat…”

“we had no option?” the king whispered and eren already knew what was coming, he knew that tone very well, and he got in front of Mikasa immediately 

“she’s telling the truth father, the cargo burned down and we had no other way out so we- “

“SILENCE” The king had never screamed at eren like this, not in public at least and it made everyone be on guard, weary of the king.

“wasn’t I clear? The books were your priority, not some joke or some second mission, you had to retrieve the books and come back, I don’t care for a couple of soldiers, hell, I didn’t even care about my own son, you had one task and you fucked it up.” Eren’s blood went cold at the statement, sure, he didn’t have the best relationship with his father, but he really was willing to give up his son for some books?

“whose idea was it?” he asked “who was the genius that gave that order” Mikasa was getting in front of eren to take responsibility, but out of the corner of his eye, eren saw Levi shifting, and he realized he had to own up to his mistake. 

“it was me father, I gave the order” eren looked lost, like he had no path to go on anymore, like he wanted to meld with the carpet and as he spoke, he barely raised his head to see Levi looking straight at him, then at the king, and back at eren with an expression that both scared and alleviated him, he was alive. 

“and why did you morons follow through with those orders?!” the king was yelling again and eren couldn’t stand it, he raised his arm, protecting hanji and Mikasa and jean, and most importantly, Levi “it was all my fault father, not theirs, they just followed because I threatened them, I deserve all punishment” he couldn’t believe himself, and he saw Levi trying to move, trying to get him but hanji was quickly at his side, shushing him and trying to get him to calm down 

“well look at that, aren’t you a man, son” a loud snap was heard, and they all turned to see eren on the floor, on his knees and his father looming over him “from now on, you all follow my orders, not this kid who thinks he knows a thing about the world we live in, and if you don’t, then I personally will cut your heads off before you have even a small chance of defending him or yourselves. And you, you little shit, will have to see all your friends die, because that’s the world we live in son, and you will realize it’s your fault” eren was sobbing now, apparently one of his ribs seem to have been broken and the king turned waving his hand, a signal for his guards to escort the soldiers out of the room, eren just laid there, unable to focus on anything but Levi’s slight whimpers from the other side of the room.


End file.
